Eneida

Eneida was first issued in 2011 in Ukraine, in Bridge format, as a supplement to the book "Eneida" – a poem written by Ivan Kotliarevsky in 1798. Eneida (Ukrainian for "Aeneid") is a mock-heroic poem considered to be the first literary work published wholly in the modern Ukrainian language.

Intended as a parody of Virgil's Aeneid, Kotliarevsky transformed the Trojan heroes into Zaporozhian Cossacks. Critics believe that it was written in the light of the destruction of Zaporizhian Host by the order of Catherine the Great. The poem was written during the formation of romanticism and nationalism in Europe. At that time, part of the Ukrainian elite was gripped by nostalgia for the Cossack state, which was liquidated by Russia in 1775–1786.

Above: Eneida Playing Cards designed by Oksana Ternavska from the 2018 edition produced via Kickstarter►

Two versions were produced: a limited edition pack featuring English indices and a cheaper Ukrainian version using the Cyrillic alphabet for the court indices. While the cards in both packs display the same artwork the Ukrainian version features different artwork for the tuck box and backs. The names of each "Aeneid" poem characters are added on both languages - English and Ukrainian for every court card.

All illustrations (court cards and pip cards) are created from scratch by the Ukrainian artist Oksana Ternavska. Based in Kyiv she works not only on playing cards but also on book illustration. The pack was produced by NPCC (Noir Arts) in 2018.